Definition of hashtag
: a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet)
Did You Know?
Social media has made the hashtag a ubiquitous part of Internet culture, starting with Twitter and expanding to other sites. Originally designed for categorizing posts, the hashtag can now be a tool for a supplementary coy or witty comment (e.g., #awkward). The word tag can mean "a word or phrase used for description or identification." Hash is short for hash mark, a term for what we more commonly call a pound sign (and, less commonly, an octothorp). The hash in hash mark is probably an alteration of hatch, a term for the crisscrossing of lines (as when adding shading to a drawing).
First Known Use of hashtag
Seen and Heard
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